Self Help Scams - How To Tell The Good Advice From the Scams

How do you tell if a web site is providing good information or if it's just another one of those Self Help Scams?

I've been seeing more and more Scam sites popping up everywhere which REALLY upsets me.

If someone is looking for advice and guidance on how to solve
issues, the last thing they need is to be taken advantage of by
unscrupulous scammers.

You deserve to be treated with respect and compassion.

Unfortunately, these scammers know that your emotions are running
high and that you're desperately searching for a solution to your
problem. So, you give them your credit card number and you just end up
feeling worse about yourself when you realize you've been had.

At first glance, it can be hard to tell if a site is good or not
because they're so very persuasive. So I thought I'd provide a checklist
of things to look for to help you determine what's real and what's just
more self help scams.

Checklist for Good Sites vs Self Help Scams

Where did you find the information?
It's important to remember that just because you found the information
on the internet doesn't mean it's true. There's a lot of misinformation
out there.

Also, did you find the information on a one page web site? One
page web sites are usually just hard sell sales letters. They put all
their effort into that one page to get you to buy their product. All
they're interested in is selling the product.

If the web site provides additional articles and information for
you to read then you'll have a much better chance of understanding what
kind of advice they provide and if it's something that's going to
address your needs or not.

Is everything promoting more items for you to buy?
If the web site does provide some articles for you to read, do they
actually provide information you can use or are they just pushing the
same product (or other products) for you to buy?

Do they use "fear mongering"
Or in other words do they try to scare you into thinking you must purchase their product.

For example,

- "There's an issue that may be a much bigger problem than you might have imagined..."

- “This issue could be causing the quality of your relationships to suffer right now without you even knowing it."

They use fear to try and scare you into action as well as to gain your trust.

Do they ask questions that basically if you're breathing you're going to answer yes to?
When they do that, it makes you agree with them and also think that you
really might have this imagined problem they’re talking about.

For example:

- Do you ever find yourself getting angry with people?

- Have you ever said something and it just came out wrong?

What kind of language do they use?
Do they use a lot of stories like "unemployed drug addict completely
turns life around and makes $10 million dollars in just 3 days using our
technique". Stories are often used to get you to relate to the product
or to see yourself in the same shoes as the person they're describing.

Or do they use a lot of words like "imagine yourself", "see
yourself as", "smell...", "taste...". These are all meant to stimulate
your emotions towards the product so you make an emotional purchase
rather than taking the time to make a logical, well thought out
decision.

Is this problem something that we apparently all do without realizing it?
Do they say things like, “If you want to have a good relationship then
you must not make this mistake yet we all make this mistake".

This technique makes you think that there is something you
must be doing and just haven't realized. "We all make this mistake so I
must be doing it too" is what they want you to think.

Is the problem they describe so serious that it affects every aspect of your life; personal, career, friends, etc.
By the end of the sales letter do they leave you wondering what this
terrible secret is that's silently ruining your life? They make you feel
you just have to buy this product to find out. Your whole life is being
ruined by this one problem. This is just more high pressure tactics.

Brand New Life
Do they promise to completely transform your life if you just learn
about their technique? Also, do they make it seem like there’s only one
true solution to this problem and that they're the only ones in the
world that know it.

New Recently Discovered Concepts
Do they talk about how they’ve developed a new, never before revealed product or concept?

Here's an example:

"talking on thin ice" (I just made this up)

This new concept will be closely related to a concept or saying
that most people are familiar with. In my example, you would be familiar
with "walking on thin ice" so "talking on thin ice" would make this new
concept seem more familiar and believable. Walking on thin ice is real
so "talking" on thin ice" must be too.

Do they say that they’ve talked to or interviewed "hundreds and hundreds of people" without backing it up with any solid proof

It’s meant to make you feel that you can’t argue with them and
that this must be real information if they’ve done all this research.
So how can you argue with research like that. When you think about,
“hundreds and hundreds is pretty” vague. I’m sure you’ve talked to
hundreds and hundreds of people throughout your lifetime as well.

Only One Way
"There's a right way and a wrong way" and only they know the right way.
And, they'll share this secret with you for just $24.95. Be wary of
people who tell you that there is only one solution to a problem.
There's usually lots of different ways to tackle a problem. Also, what
works for one person may not work for another.

Time Limited Offers
Do they tell you that you need to act now or this amazing offer is going to go away forever or increase in price?

This is a pressure technique to make a snap decision without thinking about it or doing some more research on the product.

They'll also try to make you believe that there's only so many of
these products available and that once they're gone, they're gone. A
company or person who is interested in really helping you isn't going to
suddenly take away the information.

Are there numerous pop up ads, banner ads, and links to other hard sell sales pages on their site?
Or after you've visited a site do you suddenly discover you have a bunch
of other windows open offering you screen savers and emoticons? This
could be a sign that their real motivation is more on how much money
they can make rather than helping you or focusing on their profession
(life coaching, etc.)

What other ventures are they involved in?
Do they have numerous web sites on debt collection, insurance, mortgages
etc? These sites are often put up by scammers because they feel there's
easy money in it. But, if a site is involved in a lot of other
activities that have nothing to do with each other, it could be a sign
that they're just after your money.

Watch for things like links to insurance companies which have nothing to do with the site concept.

Also, do they want you to answer surveys? Often the companies
that just want your money, ask numerous surveys so that they can figure
out what you want and then sell it to you. Or they could be getting paid by having you fill out surveys.

What are their credentials?
What is their background? They don't need to have a doctor or a
psychology degree but if they're former sales people who've just
suddenly gotten into self help then that might be a warning sign.
There’s nothing wrong with a sales person changing careers but it may
give you an insight into their motivation. Why is this person providing
the information? Have they actually used this information themselves? Do
they even tell you who they are?

Have you researched them?
You need to be careful with this one as there are many instances of
people providing "good" reviews of a product because they're trying to
sell you the product too. But, if you do a search on the product, you
may be able to find a couple of unbiased reviews of the product. So,
when you find a review, is the person an affiliate of that product? If
they are, take the review with a huge grain of salt.

Also, check out that affiliate program they offer. If they
promise to pay their affiliates huge amounts of money (for example $100)
then definitely be more wary of any reviews you find.

What about the bonus offers?
Are there a ton of bonus offers being provided from other self help
experts if you purchase the product? If you find a site that offers
hundreds of other products when you buy their product, be wary. Usually,
the reason behind this is that those other "experts" have agreed to
provide a copy of their product just for the free exposure. Often, the
bonus offers will be useless in that they're really just sales letters
for other products.

Also, if you checked into it, you'd discover that most of
those experts will be sending out an email to their email lists
promoting this product in return for being listed on that sales page.
Usually, they've never even tried the product they're recommending.
They're just recommending it so that they can be promoted on the sales
page too.

The other nasty thing that can happen with those bonus offers is
that often you'll be expected to provide your email address in order to
receive the bonus offer. Once you do that, then you're going to be
bombarded with more high pressure sales to buy from these other experts as
well.

Also, be wary of the sites that offer a lot of "normally sells
for $197 but I'm giving it to you for free" items. Usually, they get
those items for free. Also, do those items even relate to the product
they're selling or are they completely unrelated?

Sometimes those offers can give you an added clue into the
product though. If the bonus offers are things like, "how to sell PLR
products" it could be a sign that this product is a PLR product. PLR
stands for Private Label Rights. Basically, people buy the rights to a
book so that they can change it how they want or just put their name on
it and sell it to you. They haven't written the information themselves.
Usually, the information is quite low quality.

About The Company Page
On the page where they tell you about the company or the person behind
the advice, does it tell you about the person? Have they gone through
this situation themselves? Do they have a genuine passion for this
subject?

Newsletters
Do they get you to sign up for their newsletter and keep sending you
emails about one more product that you just have to buy? Or do they keep
sending you promotions on the next seminar they're holding and how you
must go if you want to solve your life problems?

There's nothing wrong with telling you about products that
they've tried and feel you might be interested in. It's just when
there's nothing being provided except for sales promotions that you can
see that they're more interested in the money than you.

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Hopefully by using this checklist you'll have a better idea on
whether a product you're interested in is legitimate or just more self
help scams.

If you have any others you'd like to add, feel free to discuss it on the Confidence Help Forum or if you've been sucked in by a nasty scammer, post a note there as well and let's get the warning out on these nasty people.

I just have no respect for people who try to take advantage of
others especially when they're down and hurting. So, I hope by reading
this list it will help you to find the real information that can help
you and to avoid being scammed.